Ruth Ozeki's A Tale For the Time Being is a stunning achievement and certainly worthy of being long-listed for the 2014 Man Booker prize.

"A Time Being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me, and everyone of us who is, or was, or ever will be"

The narrative follows Canadian novelist Ruth as she is dragged into the world of 16 year old Tokyoite, Nao, via the medium of a washed up diary. A Hello Kitty lunch box, Marcel Proust, a 101 year old Buddhist Nun and Haruki #1 the kamikaze pilot all wind up in this Tsunami of a story.

From the French Maid cafes of urban Akihabara to the Mountain retreats of Sendai and the coast of British Columbia this novel casts the net of Japanese cultural influence across the pacific to Canada.

Ozeki manages to weave every major contemporary Japanese narrative in to this intricate story from the trauma of the recent earthquake and tsunami to the plight of the Tokyo 'salarymen'. The writing neatly contrasts the WWII Kamakazi soldiers to the modern corporate army of Suits all too prepared to throw themselves in-front of commuter trains.

Ozeki authentically uses so many Japanese terms that footnotes are aplenty. Whilst fans of Japanese culture will appreciate this those reading on a Kindle will be annoyed!

Not always easy to connect with the characters and not over flowing with laughs but a rewarding, if long, novel from an expert modern story teller.